I found all the snow... It's in VERMONT.

There's this organization here on campus, OCASA - the Off-Campus and Apartment Student Association, who sponsors lots of really cool things. One of which is an annual ski trip. This year the location was Smuggler's Notch, VT. For only $115, bus transportation, 2 breakfasts, 2 dinners, snacks, housing in a beautiful condo, and a two day lift pass was included. How could anyone turn this down?? My roomate and I signed up in anticipation for a steller weekend of riding in fresh powder and that's exactly what we got. I made lots of new and amazing friends, espicially the 11 others in our condo. We had a beautiful view of Madonna Mountain from our "Mountain View" condos that had 3 floors, 4 bedrooms, a fireplace, fully equipped kitchen and entertainment center. I lasted from 9am-2pm on the first day out. The next day, Sunday, was the best. Bright sunshine illuminated the freshly fallen snow from overnight. And this day... we got adventerous... rode some "closed" trails with little cover and boulders and ice which made for some serious fun. We also ventured on a double black diamond and some glades for a little bit. I ended my day down a timed slalom course for the fun of it. Everyday since I've been back I've been wishing I was still there. I didn't think about school or anything else that was stressing me out at the time. I was just having the time of my life snowboarding down a gorgeous mountain with fresh powder and hanging out with a lot of cool people when I got back to the condo. Enjoy the pictures, but keep in mind, they don't do any justice to what the scenery was really like:

the lift ride up to Madonna Moutain (about 3600' in elevation) was a little steep and scary at first

this was a view from the base looking at the peak of Madonna

one of my favorite view from the lift ride

top of Madonna Mountain... notice we were parallel with the clouds!

me and my roomate Melissa at the summit of Madonna Mountain.... with the clouds again!